


Swing Batter, Batter!

by stephanericher



Category: Princess Nine
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 11:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: “Hey,” says Koharu, her voice a bit rough, as if touched by radio static. “That’s what teammates do.”





	Swing Batter, Batter!

**Author's Note:**

> for dw user hilaryfun
> 
> title is the prompt

The first one at practice the day after they lose is Koharu. The other girls who live in the dorms aren’t with her on the field, and they aren’t in the clubhouse when Ryo gets there. Neither are any of the others, and Ryo’s glad of that for a second, until she feels guilty. They’re her teammates; they’re the reason Kisaragi made it this far to begin with. But she’s the one who made sure it didn’t go any farther, who gave up that home run--the sight of it leaving the park is imprinted on her mind’s eye like the negative of a photograph.

“Stop it,” she says out loud.

She exits the clubhouse to the sound of a ball hitting against the fence, the way she used to throw it after her father had passed away and when her mother had told her to stop working and go have fun. For years, it had just been her and the fence--but why is Koharu doing this? Her arm strength is fine; her throws have been on-target and her bat quick all season. 

When Ryo turns the corner, her mouth falls open. Koharu is pitching. 

She winds up like a slightly exaggerated version of a pro, raising her leg and curling her body like a crane, and then launching forward. Her release point’s a little high; it’s fast but not on par with the pitchers they’ve been facing, and there doesn’t seem to be much movement on the ball.

She’s reaching into a bucket of balls for each new pitch; about half of them are scattered at the foot of the fence already.

Ryo clears her throat. “Excuse me...do you need a catcher?”

Koharu turns around. Sweat is already dripping down her face, soaking through the collar of her shirt. 

“I’m fine with this. You shouldn’t be throwing after yesterday.”

Ryo scowls, though she can’t say Koharu’s right. Her arm hurts more than it ever has, not as if it’s injured, but it’s tired and overworked. Koharu turns around again and winds up. The ball hits the fence right about the level of the batter’s head; even Mao might have to stand up to get it.

“Your release point is too high,” says Ryo. “If you wait a little longer, the ball will go lower.”

“Thanks,” says Koharu.

Her next pitch is the same, but the one after lands much lower, maybe too low, but close. Ryo smiles.

Koharu finishes the bucket before anyone else arrives. She doesn’t tell Ryo not to talk about it, but she doesn’t talk about it herself, so Ryo doesn’t either.

* * *

Their routine establishes itself, or they establish it, but Ryo doesn’t want to claim credit for it. She shows up at the same time every day; Koharu starts pitching; Ryo gives her advice. She has experience, and she can see the whole picture of Koharu, her elbow and shoulder and wrist, her hips and knees, the extension of her body. She can stand behind her and push and pull, something she normally wouldn’t be so presumptuous to do but--Koharu asks, and Ryo knows. 

“Why are you doing this?” Ryo asks one day.

Koharu looks at her in the closest Ryo’s ever seen her face to shock. “You don’t know?”

“No,” says Ryo. “I mean, you want to learn to pitch, but—why?”

“Idiot,” says Koharu. “I want to do it in a game. You can’t be out there all the time; you almost threw your arm out when you were. We’ll probably get another pitcher next year, but there’s the fall tournament and Spring Koshien before that.”

Ryo blinks. She’s about to open her mouth and say she can handle it--she had all tournament--but she really hadn’t. She’d gotten really lucky a few times, and then her luck and her stamina wore out at once. She has a couple of pitches but not much more in her arsenal--though of course she’s working on that, too--but it’s probably arrogant to expect that she can get everyone else.

“I’m not going to be a world-beater. I’m not you. But if I can get an inning or two here and there, more than that if you’ve had a heavy workload, maybe I can help.”

Ryo’s heart thuds forward against the inside of her chest, like Koharu’s pitch against the fence, and she almost wants to cry for a second.

“Thank you…”

“Hey,” says Koharu, her voice a bit rough, as if touched by radio static. “That’s what teammates do.”

* * *

Practicing together before practice turns into studying together, and then practicing after that when the fields are empty. Sometimes Ryo catches Koharu; sometimes she hits. She’s no slugger, but the practice will be good for her, too (and Koharu says, whenever Ryo reminds her of this, that she’s starting small to stroke her ego). Koharu’s pitches get faster, her location more precise, and the fastball and changeup more distinct from each other. Ryo can’t rely on timing the velocity to time her swings; she tries to read Koharu’s windup and sometimes she guesses wrong. She memorizes Koharu’s motions, but Koharu changes like a wave hitting a sandbar and washing over.

* * *

The first time Koharu walks Ryo home, Ryo doesn’t think about how she lives back at the school dorms and this is quite out of the way for her. The second time, she decides Koharu must want oden, or a better atmosphere than the dorm. The third time, Koharu’s calloused hand grabs hers, and Ryo realizes it’s not that.

She’s a little slow on the uptake sometimes, especially when it comes to stuff like this, but she hasn’t noticed anything before now. Koharu is her teammate, her friend, but this is new.

Ryo doesn’t dislike it, though.

She’s thrown the ball back to Ryo; it’s landed in her glove. It’s Ryo’s turn to make Koharu swing and miss. She squeezes her hand, and Koharu stutters in her step. Her tank top is loose on her shoulder, revealing her tan line. Ryo stops, tugging at Koharu’s arm, and when she turns around Ryo kisses her.


End file.
